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Monday, February 29, 2016

I've read plenty of shifter stories and I love them. The more I read them, the more I love shifters. Lions, Tigers, Wolves... you name it.

So as I worked on my latest novella, Loving Leo, a thought occurred to me. Piercings and tattoos on shifters. Now how does that work? I'm sure other authors have written shifters with tats and piercings, but I hadn't come across any.

Then my character, Leo, informed me he wanted both!

First thought? How does that work during lion time? Does the tat show up under the fur? Or disappear? What about the piercing? Would the animal side even understand what it was?

Now instead of driving myself nuts trying to sort all of that out, I went with the character's lead and wrote the story. Leo wants a piercing and gets one. He wants to be different. I let him and his partner dictate how things shook out concerning that teeny little piercing. If they were happy, so was I.

So my question to you... what are your thoughts on shifters, tattoos and piercings? Let me know. I'd love to discuss it. :-)

* * * * * * *

Here's a little bit about Leo and Axl:

Loving Leo

Book 5 in the Sanctuary Series

Paranormal, Contemporary

M/M, Anal Sex, Shifters, Lion Shifters

Resplendence Publishing

This lion’s ready to
claim what’s his on the day made for lovers.

Figuring out what Valentine’s Day isn’t easy, especially for
lion shifters. Until coming to Sanctuary, Leo had never heard of the holiday,
but he’s not about to let the special day go by without taking notice. He knows
his heart and it belongs to Axl. He’ll do what it takes to get Axl’s attention,
but will Axl share his feelings?

Axl is the brute of the group and has no need for Valentine’s
Day. He’s tough and takes what he wants—including Leo. He doesn’t need a
holiday to dictate his actions. That is until Leo bares his soul and his needs.
Will Leo’s honesty be enough for Axl to come to terms with his feelings?
Anything can happen on Valentine’s Day.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Where will the next dreamers come from? The writers of
science fiction books and movies? The scientists, explorers?

Much has been written about the latest Star Wars movie Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Not all
of it good. Take it from a long-time Star Wars afionada and the grandmother of a
six- and 8-year-old who are crazy about anything Star Wars, the movie was
great. I wanted to see the movie with them, to share the excitement and to find
out what they liked. However, circumstances prevented that. So they were all
geared up to call me . . . until their mother said no spoilers. That put a
damper on their enthusiasm. After I saw the movie, they happily shared all the “exciting”
parts.

Something else those grandchildren are crazy about are
LEGOs. At their house, they have several Friends and Star Wars sets. On the
other hand, I have the plain building sets—some their mother and uncle played
with thirty-plus years ago along with new ones. My thinking is to let the kids
create whatever they want. During a recent school snow day spent at my house,
they not only devised structures, they put on skits based on the “underworld” scenes
they created with LEGOs.

I love watching creativity at work. Storytelling, skits,
building blocks. Whether it’s building kits or making up stories based on
movies and TV shows, their imaginations soar. A site we’ve used for several
years to write stories is My Storymaker from
the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The program keeps improving, offering more
choices for the kids to make up a story. (They talk, I type.)

The more opportunities we give children to use their
imagination the better dreamers they’ll become. If they can dream it, anything
is possible. Our next storytellers, filmmakers, scientists, astronauts will
come from those who were encouraged to use their imagination as children.

Diane Burton writes science
fiction romance, romantic suspense, and mysteries. Her latest science fiction
romance release is The Protector (An
Outer Rim Novel: Book 3). She blogs here on the 13th of the month and on her own blog on
Mondays.

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into writing romantic fiction.
For more info and excerpts from her books, visit Diane’s website: http://www.dianeburton.com

Thursday, February 4, 2016

No Time
Restrictions

If you attend a real, human, face-to-face
party being fashionably late can be awkward, especially if you’re not one who
revels in the spotlight. When you’re creeping in making excuses about traffic
or the kids when in reality the jeans you planned to wear wouldn’t zip after
holiday indulgences, forcing you to spend an extra twenty minutes looking for
an alternative outfit.

But if you’re heading to a Facebook party,
nobody has to know. You can slide in and say hello and then finish making
dinner while perusing the updates on your screen. Or you can claim you’d been
lurking the entire time, just waiting for a chance to introduce yourself, when in
reality you got carried away binge-watching your favorite show. Psst! No
worries- no one will be the wiser!

Usually they last over a time span and you
can check in throughout the day, or sometimes even a day or more later. If it’s
a group event and you want to chat with a specific author, be sure to check out
their featured time- and the time zone of the party! You are literally partying
with people all over the world.

No Worries About Dress Code Etiquette

Is this too dressy? Too casual? Or…gasp…what if someone is wearing the same
outfit? Nope, it’s more along the lines of do I wear pajamas or sweatpants
because it’s in the comfort of your own home or wherever in the world you want
to be.

Prizes

Where are my losers? Seriously—my hand is
waving in the air right now. What I mean is where are the people who never seem
to win anything? Well, now is your time to shine and toss that bad losing mojo
out the window!

It’s almost guaranteed there is some kind of
prize, and if it’s a multi-author event, many prizes. Often you can win just
for showing up! Even better yet-the games are fun! Believe me, I’d never
thought I’d say those words because I don’t play online, or much of any, games.
These are more like conversation starters, posting pictures of sexy dresses,
hot guys or cute animals- you name it! You get a chance to meet new authors or
check out your favorite authors newest releases.

Invite your friends- there’s none of that awkward, “I can’t
mention this to so and so cause I don’t know if she was invited.” The more the
merrier!

Will I See You There?

What if your memories hadn't been made yet?

The car accident totaled Sabrina Post’s convertible and reinvented her memories. She can't recall dumping Cole Dawson ten years ago. What her new clairvoyant visions tell Sabrina is he’s her husband. Any practical girl would question her sanity. But if Sabrina wants to make this imaginary future a reality, she'll have to regain Cole’s trust and eliminate her rival, the coffee shop waitress who’s pegged Cole as husband #4.

Maureen writes stories in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania that boast laughter, light suspense and something magical in the hope of sharing her love of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary world. She writes Paranormal Romance and Fantasy.